Coordinating Manager - Plant Warehouses
United States Steel
Job Title: Materials Management CoordinatorOVERVIEW
The Materials Management Coordinator position is responsible for providing leadership, direction, and strategic oversight for the Materials Management Inventory Manager and Materials Management Warehouse Manager functions. This role ensures that all warehouse, inventory, and materials management processes support Reliability Centered Maintenance objectives and operational requirements while optimizing inventory investment, improving material availability, enhancing warehouse performance, and delivering financial results.
Materials Management is a service organization responsible for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling all activities related to the flow of materials required to support operational equipment maintenance. The Materials Management Coordinator will establish strategic objectives, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and develop high-performing teams to support the reliability and operational goals of Gary Works. This position provides leadership for both inventory management and warehouse operations while ensuring alignment with plant business objectives and supply chain strategies.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Materials Management Coordinator
Provide leadership and direction for the following Management Functions:
- Directly supervise and develop the Materials Management Inventory Manager and Materials Management Warehouse Manager positions.
- Establish department goals, objectives, and performance metrics that support plant reliability, operational, and financial targets.
- Develop and implement long-term Materials Management strategies focused on inventory optimization, warehouse excellence, and maintenance reliability.
- Lead continuous improvement efforts across warehouse operations, inventory management, logistics, and materials processes.
- Ensure compliance with all safety, environmental, regulatory, and company policies and procedures.
- Drive employee engagement, accountability, training, and development within the Materials Management organization.
- Coordinate materials management initiatives across all Gary Works divisions to ensure standardization and best practice implementation.
- Develop and present performance reports, business updates, and strategic recommendations to plant and senior management.
Oversee the coordination of the following Inventory Management Activities:
- Provide strategic direction for inventory planning, stocking strategies, material criticality assessments, and inventory optimization initiatives.
- Develop annual inventory budgets, inventory reduction targets, and cost savings initiatives.
- Monitor inventory financial performance and implement actions to achieve budget objectives.
- Support outage planning and major project activities through inventory forecasting and materials readiness planning.
- Coordinate inventory transfer opportunities and inventory optimization initiatives across facilities.
- Ensure accurate measurement, reporting, and communication of inventory performance metrics.
- Support and promote Reliability Centered Maintenance initiatives throughout the organization to ensure critical spare parts strategies are aligned with operational risk and reliability requirements.
Oversee the coordination of the following Warehouse Operations Activities:
- Provide leadership for all warehouse operations, including receiving, storage, delivery, shipping, and material handling activities.
- Ensure warehouse housekeeping, safety programs, and operational procedures meet plant and corporate standards.
- Ensure efficient material delivery processes support maintenance, outages, capital projects, and operational requirements.
- Lead the implementation of warehouse technologies, tools, and process improvements.
- Support emergency material sourcing, expediting, and logistics coordination activities.
- Drive improvements in warehouse efficiency, service levels, and customer satisfaction.
Oversee Supply Chain and Vendor Management Activities:
- Develop strategic supplier relationships to improve service levels, material availability, and total supply chain performance.
- Collaborate with procurement and sourcing organizations to reduce overall material costs and improve supplier performance.
- Lead supplier performance reviews and corrective action initiatives when required.
- Coordinate vendor-managed inventory (VMI) programs and strategic inventory partnerships.
- Support emergency sourcing efforts and supply chain risk mitigation strategies.
- Identify opportunities for cost reduction through supplier collaboration and process improvements.
Professional Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Management, Operations Management, Engineering, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
- Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in Materials Management, Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Warehouse Operations, or Maintenance Support functions.
- Minimum of 7 years work experience supervising crews in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
- Ability to establish goals and objectives and implement a vision for improved Reliability and Materials Management processes that lead organizations toward world-class performance.
- Ability and willingness to interface and communicate effectively with personnel at all organizational levels.
- Strong analytical, financial, budgeting, and problem-solving skills.
- Familiarization with Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Strong experience with supply chain systems and ERP platforms (Oracle preferred).
- Strong experience with Microsoft Office products and business reporting tools.
- Proven track record of leadership success with the ability to motivate, develop, and retain high-performing teams in a rapidly changing environment.
- Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and effectively manage competing priorities while delivering results.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) programs.
- Experience in integrated steel manufacturing, heavy industrial operations, or large-scale maintenance support environments.
- Proven success leading multi-site inventory and warehouse optimization initiatives.